In this 1986 60 Minutes interview, a 32-year old Oprah Winfrey is on the cusp of making it.
Two years prior she had taken over as the host of a local talk show. Audiences loved her.
Now, she was to have her biggest test yet. Her show had been syndicated nationally. It was make or break.
What I particularly resonate with in this interview is Oprah's infinite devotion. In other words, her intrinsic motivation rather than extrinsic motivation and her devotion rather than discipline.
Below are 4 takeaways:
1: Make Yourself The Target Market
Oprah wasn't doing focus groups to see who to target or what they were interested in. Rather she focused on exploring topics and targeting people that resonated with her.
Two quotes stick out:
“She prefers to wing it, she says, feels that if she talks about the things that interest her, the same things will interest the audience.”
“The reason I can interview all these people is because I think I'm every woman and I've had every malady, and I've been on every di…
